Weedless fish-hook.



J. W. JAY.

WEEDLESS FISH HOOK. Arrucmou FILED :um: 12'. 1: 1e.

1215.938; Patented Feb. 13,1917.

1 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. W. JAY. IW EEDLESS FISH HOI K. APPLICATION FILED JUNE II. IBI G.

12.1'5Q938. Patented Feb. 13,1917.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED sTArEsrarENr OFFICE.

JAMES WILLIAM JAY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

WEEDLESS FISH-HOOK.

lb: (1Z5 whom it may concern r Be it known that I, J AMES \VILLIAM JAY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing 'at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia ,5 and State of Pennsylvania, have invented,

'15 simple, durableand efiicientdevice of this character which will possess to a maximum degreethe advantage of being capable of positiyely' protecting the book from becom mg entangled in or with weeds and the like,

and Without affording any obstacle whatever to the fish striking the bait or lure.

' To those familiar with the art of fishing,

and artioularly casting, it is Well known that in fishing for bass and similar fish, the

best place for finding fish, especially the big fellows, is usually where the weeds, docks, cat-tails'and similar vegetation are the thickest, and-that ones abilityto' get'his baited hook into the thickest of this vege tation is an ii'nportant factor in his success. Heretofore, so-called Weedless fishhooks have been placed upon the market that are effective enough so, far as their eedless characteristics are concerned, but. are in that re and so eifective that if a =fish strikes the ait, itis hard for him to'get the hook, so thatagreat many of these hooks thus far produced and placed before the public,

while they have been Weedless hooks, have,

i 40 been fishless hooks also.

With a knowledge of these conditions, my invention aims principally, as abovestated, to produce a book of this character which ,will effectively protect the hook from weeds and the like, While at the same time the guard forming part of the hook, or an adjunct thereof or attachment thereto, will be moved away from the point of the hook by the slightest touch of the fish so that the fish will have unobstructed access to the point of the hook. e

Another object of the invention is to produce a device'of this character-which can be very easily made and used with any of V t the ordinary. or conventional types of book vm were; easier: tand 1 Specification of Letters Patent.

ilatented Feb. 1a 1917.

Application filed June 1.7, 1916. Serial No. 10. ,254.

hook, a hook vith a spoon or spinner, a double or treble book, a buck-tail orfcathcred hook, and a plain shank hook, and with out interfering in any way with the func-. tions of the ho 3k itself, but on the otherhand, properly protecting the hook from the weeds and tie like.

A further oblect of the invention. is an improved Weedless hook in which the guard is mounted to freely turn or rotate about the shank of the hook as an axis, and is also free to move longitudinally on the shank within predetermined limits, whereby the prongs of the gzard, when any of them are struck by a fish it any angle in the direction of the caster, will either turn the guard to such a position as to properly expose thibill or point of the hook to the fish, or will result in bodily movingthe guard upward away from the point or bill, while on the other hand, as soon as my improved hook H reaches the water and the caster begins to draw it in, the guard will be instantly moved down tc surround" and protect the point of the hoo it. For instance, if: the hook should alight u; on a lily pad or the like, the two lowermost prongs in Whatever position the guard may strike the pad, will hold the point of the hook elevated and prevent it from becoming caught in the pad, or from becoming enta1.gled with the underlying Weeds.

A still fllltlltl object of the invention is a device of this kind invvhich the guard itself may be p1 ovided with. vanes or blades whereby it will "be caused to rotate "in the water as the hot k is drawn therethrough.

The invention has for a still further ob .ject an improved Weedless hook in which the parts'of the gun rd are so constructed and ary "ranged that they may be very easily and quickly manufa :t'ured at a very low cost and will not be liabl to become broken. or readily deformed.

And the invention also aims to generally improve device; of this character so as to render them more useful and commercially desirable.

lVith these and other objects in View, aslo will more fllllf' appear as the description: proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, arrangements and oombinations of the parts that I shall hereinafter more fully describe and claim.

anticipate a tliibe had totlntigllgghgy Figure 1- is a perspective view showih'g an application of one form or embodiment); of my improved Weedless fishhook,

Fig. 2 (Sheet2), is a side view of a hook of the spoon or spinner type equipped with my. improved guard, it being understood that the invention is also applicable to any other of the conventional types of hook as .hereinbefore specified,

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the guard, with blades or vanes attached to or forming part of the sleeve thereof,

Fig. 4 is a detail view of this form of sleeve by itself,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view of said sleeve. of the guard.

Fig-Bis an end view of the sleeve,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective View of the sleeve,

Fig. 8 is a side-view of a treble hook embodying the improvements of my invention,

Fig. 9 is a similar view of a buck-tail hook so equipped,

Fig. ,lO is' a. view in the nature of a 'diagram illustrating how the arms of the prongs of the guard may be of double for mation and readily assembled with the sleeve,

Fig. 11 (Sheet 1) is a similar view illustrating another embodimentiwhereby the other manner in which the guard may be formed' guard may be formed, and

.' Fig. 12 is a similar view showing still an- Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and designated in all of the views of the accon'npanying drawings by like reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a hook which may be of'any desiredtype orv design as hereinbefore stated,

and which is provided with a straight shank 20f the usual degree of stiffness, saidshank being of any desired length, according to the. requirements of the case and being formed with stops 3 and 4 disposed in predeter- Imined spaced relation to each other and formed in any desired way, but preferably onstituting integral parts of the'shank such as would. result by solderor the like applied to the shank in any approved manner. My improved guard comprises a sleeve 5 which. is mounted to turn. upon the shank and slide longitudinally thereon between the stops 3 and 4, said sleeve having attached thereto and extending downwardly and outwardly other, said prongs being formed of piano therefronr'a plurality of prongs. 6 that are. four in number in the present instance, and disposed .in' equidistant relation to each -,wire or any other wire which will possess the requisite strengthtand resilience. It is to be particularly noted that the prongs 6 drop of solder or the like bein was of the prongs will lie in a plane, transversely considered, .beyond the barbed point 7 of the hook and encompass same upon all sides whereby, as the hook is drawn through the water toward the caster as he reels in," all liability of the point catching upon weeds, sna s or the like will be positively preclu ed, and whereby should the hook fall upon a lily. pad or the like, when casting upon the surface of the water, the guard will support the point of, the hook, with the bait or lurethereom'in an elevated. position, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and prevent the book from sinking down into the weeds with the point unprotcctcd It is obvious, owing to the freedom with which the guard may turn axially upon the shank'and-also slide longitudinally thereon, thatthe slightest touch of the fish upon any one of the prongs will turn the guard. around so as to expose the hooln-or instantly slide the guard bodily along the shank with the same result, so that, while the point of the hook is effectually prevented from becoming entangled in the weeds or similar vegetation, the guard will not in any wise tend to prevent the fish from-becoming caught.

.In the preferred construction and arrangement of the parts, the sleeve is formed of a single piece of metal or any other suitable substance or material provided atits lowermost end with a head 8 in. which the upper portions of the prongs or arms 6 are 'crimped or clenched. as best illustrated in- Figs. 5, 6'and. 7. The sleeve. in

I manufacture, isfirst formed at one end with the desired number of slits .9 arranged at equal distances apart, and the metal between the slits is crimped up and around the upper portions of the prongs so as to hold them securely,- while at the same time all? sharp bends are avoided which would tend to weaken the construction of the guard. I

Referring now particlarly to Figs. 6 and 11', it will be seen that the arms Gland sleeve 5 may be very readily formed and connected together. Forexample. two pieces of wire ofsuitable strength and resiliency may be employed to form the four. prongs. One piece of wire may be passed upward through one of the slits '9 and around the sleeve 5 and then down through the next adjacent slit so as to form-two pron and lan'intermedi ate curved cross bar 10 see Fig. 6), the cross bars of the two bars or arms that are thus formed being securely heldu'n the bead Bsuhsequently formed all around the sleeve. a

g referably added and furn io I Instead of using two. separate pieces of ishing a most ri construe turned portions of the wire being subsc- I qliiently out apart at the point 11 and sepa rated to produce the four-arm symmetrical structure.

Or a min, by employing the method illustrated iagrammatlcully in Fig. 10, the arms of the prongs may be of double formation. A single piece of wire may be taken and started at the point 12, then extended down through one of the slots and doubled upon itself and around to the next slot, the operation being repeated successively at the other slots, and'thej other end of thewire terminatipg, contiguous to the portion'l2, as indicated at 13 in i'igzj lO. The arms of double former tion are designated 6.

Ii. desired, the slee've" may be provided with, anydesired number of vanes or blades such as are indicated at '14 in Figs. 3 and i, whereby the sleeve, here designated 5' and the'prongs orhrms'fi carried thereby may be caused-to rotate as the hook is drawn through charities. q

Itjs to aerated thatmy device may equal facility with other forms look such as is shown at 1 in a feathered or buck-tail hook such sated atl in Fig. I prongsmay. terminate in either 'straightfextremities .or extremities curved slightly out'w'agd, as indicated at'15, in Fig. 2, for in blunt extremities, either plain or formed with knobs, as indicated at 16 in 'Fi.8. 5 gro n olfegoing description, in connectlon w he; 'accom anymg drawmgs t will be iiianifestf'that I ave provided avery simple,"durable'fand eflicient construction of Weedless fishhook, the parts of which maybe minimilm amount of space. Furthermore, it

"is-"to be noted that my improvedaveedless is very remote.

than thoseillustrated in as; for example, a' double very easily and cheaply made and readily It will. also be understood that as the book does notidepend upon the pliability of the rongs to insure the fish getting hooked, ut mover: entirely out of the way when the fish strik es, while at the some time the prongs bein pliable may be easily bent and expose the oak, should it happen that a fish would stri] :e the device at such an angle as to render the revolving and longitudinal sliding n'ovement practically nnpossible, although 1 contingency of this kind ln other words, the pliability of the prongs or arms of the guard gives it the same advantage that is pos sessed by the other guards that are immov able on the shank *of the hook, my guard possessing the addi aionuland very important advantageous feature of susceptibility of an easy revolving and longitudinal sliding movement.

While the accompanying th'hwings illus trate what I believe to bethe preferred embodiments of my nvontion, yetit is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto; but that various changes may be made in the constr action, arrangements and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of t'. 1e invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. A Weedless fisl hook, comprising in. com bination a hook ha ing the usual stifi shank, said shankbeing p rovided with stops thereon in spaced relatlc n to each other longitudinally on the shank and a guard embodying a sleeve mounted to freely turn and slide longitudinally upon said shank between said stops, and limited in its longitudinal movement by the latter :md a plurality of prongs connected to said sleeve and extending outwardly and down vardly therefrom and of a length to encompass the bill of the hook with their extremil ies when the guard is in abutting'relation lo the lowermost stop of thesl'iank.

2. A Weedless fisl lhook, comprising in combination a hook ha 'ingthe usualstiff shank, said shank being p:o'v1ded withstops there on in spacedrelatio u to each other longitudinally of the shank, and a. guard embodying a sleeve mounted ;o freely turn and slide longitudinallyupoi l said shank between said stops and limited inits longitudinal movement by the latter, and a plurality of prongs connected to said sleeve and extending outwardly and downw irdly therefrom and of a length to encompa ss the bill of the hook with their extremities when the guard is in.

abuttingrelationt); the lowermost stop of the shank, said p1 'on s beingv disposed in equidistant relation Support the bill of the hook elevated should the hook when cas; alight upon a floating 7 rom each other projecting from the sleeve and designed tothe shank betweensaid stops, said and being formed at one end with a bea and 5 wire prongs extending downw.ar.dly,;,and ontwardlyfrom said sleeve and. ineluding'eross bars that are clenched in said beadyas end for the purpose set forth.

4. A Weedless fishhookineluding a shank 10 provided with stops arranged in spaced relation to each'other, and a guardembodying a sleeve mounted for-revoluble and longitudinal sliding movement on said shank between .said stops, said sleeve being formed 5 at one end with slits, and a erimped bead intersected by said slits, and prongs extending outwardly and downwardl fromv said sleeve and through said slits an comprising portions that are clenched. in the erimped bead, as and for the purpose set forth" 5. A Weedless fishhook, including a shank. provided with upper and lower stops disposed in spaced relation to each other, a sleeve mounted for revoluble and lOllglfilldlrnal sliding movement on said shank between said stops, and prongs secured to said sleeve and extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom, the sleeve being provided with blades, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof i ai'lix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES WILLIAM JAY,

Witnesses:

M. PREHN, M. H. Hoot). 

